Scrubbing device and material therefor



Oct. 25, 1927.

C. FIELD SCRUBBING DEVICE AND MATERIAL THEREFOR fizji].

. tmwy I'zeld ATTORNEY INVENTOR Patented Oct. 25 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE.

CROSBY FIELD, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO BRILLO MANUFACTURING COMPANY, INC., A CORPORATION'OF NEW YORK.

seaunnme imv on AND MATERIAL THEREFOR.-

Application filed October 8, 1925. Serial No. 81,190.

My present invention concerns metal in ribbon-like or wire-like forms, which may be used for cleaning purposes in the form of pads, wads or rolls or may be woven into metallic fabric, being thus usable in place of the metal wool and metal ribbons described invarious other of my co-pending applications.

there is practically no tendency to bend edgewise in the plane of the ribbon, but only lengthwise of the ribbon. Consequently, only smooth curves of the material are presented to a surface to be cleaned thereby, unless or until great pressure has been applied to produce a sharp reverse bend: Consequently, a large portion of the ribbon is presented fiatwise to the surface to be cleaned while the sharply bent portions become sufliciently sharp and mechanically braced by the reverse bend so that on application ofpressure such as is necessary to make the smooth parts effective, these few sharp'points tend to dig into and score the surface of the work.

To avoid the above non-uniformity and inefficiency of the scrubbing action and for other reasons, my invention includes making metal ribbons and wires for cleaning pads, wads, fabrics, etc., soap coverings, etc., of such shapes that they will resent scrubbing edges or points outward when only slightly curved or even when straight. This makes certain that in a mass composed of a substantial quantity of this material, there will be everywhere presented to the work a large number of efficient scrubbing or scraping edges or points. This makes it entirely practical-to use pressure on the .scrubbing material only sufficient to make effective the working edges or points that are bearing at the moment. That is to say, the surfaceof.

a pad of my material presents such a multiplicity of effective bearing points and edges that the user naturally pays no attention to the few surfaces that may be hearing flatly on the work, it bein immaterial whether the latter are accomplis ing anything or not.

The above and other features of my invention will be more evident from the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is amore or less diagrammatic v 1ew ind1cating a pad, cake of soap or the like, in which my scrubbing material may be Figs. 2, 3, 4; and 5 are greatly'enlar ed views, showing cross-sectional shapes t at may be used for the material;

Fig. 6 shows in plan and edge view, a

ribbon made in accordance with my present invention; i i

Fig. 7 is a similar view of a form of ribbon; and

Figs. 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 show other patterns that may be embossed on the surfaces of ribbons or of wires.

In Fig. 1 the massed or wadded ribbon material, 1, is shown in detail at the lower modified the complete pad or k cake of soap in which such material may be formed.

In Fi 2 the cross-section is that of a. triangle w ich may be formed by rolling grooves in a sheet until the grooves cut through and separate the material inparallel lengths; or the triangular cross-section may be formed by rolling or drawing wires.

It will be noted that when used for my present purposes,- the triangular cross-section does not behave at all like a ribbon which is thin in proportion to its width. This particular section'may be flexed with e ual ease in an one of three directions and w atever the direction, one of the three 'lefthand corner, the dotted lines indicating edges will-be presented directly outward for I efiective engagement with the surface tobe cleaned. I

Fig. 3 is a triangle like Fig. 2, so that the tendency to flex in one of t e directions is greater than in the other two, although fle zmg in any one of the three directions is much easier than with a flat thin ribbon.

Figs. 4 and 5 show more unusual forms, but serve to illustrate how sharp thin edges may be formed in lieu of the smoothly rounded edges presented by the ordinary ribbon referred to above.

Fig. 6 shows ribbon which may be of the same. general dimensions and materials as tangular rotuberance, 5.

specified incertain of my ehding applieations that is to say,the wi th of the ribbon 'may; e, say, eight to twelvetimes its thickness, the width bein say,"1/10 to 1/64 of.

an inch for the thic ess of, say, 1/500 to 1/100 of an inch. As my present invention involves utilizing the central ortion of the ribbon, I may use ribbons wi er than above I indicated, and as the embossing or stamping ofthe ribbon weakens it, to-a certain extent, the metal may be thicker if desired. In the particular form shown in Fig. 6, the metal 1s passed through rolls that stamp it alternately inward and outward on opposite,

faces, so that the ribbon comprises the smooth marginal portions, 3, 4, separated by the central portion comprising the rec- The rib on shown in Fig. 7 is capable of variation as to proportions and materials, as in Fig. 6; but in Fig. 7 the protuberances are in the form of conical projections, 7.

InFigs. 8 to 12 inclusive, the ribbon is merely knurled so as to have a file cu't appearance as shown in the drawing. 1

Where the knurling is squarely transverse, as in Fig. 8, the ribbon will present cleaning ribs or'projections lengthwise of they ribbon and cleaning points edgewise of the ribbon. For equal thickness of material, the ribbon will bend more readily and more sharply than will the smooth IlbbOIl heretofore used.

A 'diagonal knurl, as in Fig. 9, presents cleaning elements analogous to those in Fig. 8, butobviousl the flexing of the ribbon will tend to be iagonal.

in Fig. 10, where the knurling is crisscross, the surfaces will be completely covered with projections for effective cleaning. is pre--' action, no matter-how the ribbon sented to the surface to be cleaned.

Fig. 11 is a composite combining to some extent of certam qualities of the ribbon shownin Fig. 9 with that shown in Fig. 10.

Fig; 12 shows the surfaces as ridged longitudinally, this having the advantage that itfpreservesmaximum tensile strength for the ribbon and is therefore particularly adapted for weaving urposes.

As a preferred an important'detail of my invention, 1 preferto make the ribbons or threads, not only of relatively fine or thin cross-section, but also of relatively soft nonabrasive metals,of which I prefer copper, aluminum, etc., also various alloys as, for instance, brass, bronze, German silver, Monel metal and ordinary tinsel. An illustrative desirable com sition for the metal is, copper 62%, nick 9 and zinc 28%,

ible ribbons o with less than etc.

7 0; 1W1, iron, aluminum,

For the various forms of stamped or embossed ribbons, particularly the t es.

shown in Figs. 6 and 7, it is rable at 'the metal be quite *ductile. One way of making metal into any of the forms shown 1 is to draw it into wire to get precisely the desired cross-section, after whlch the wire maybe flattened and shaped in embossin 1 rolls. This method is particularly ada te for making indefinitely long lengths o the surfaces being'deformedto form additional cleaning elements thereon.

2. A cleaning pad or the like comprising elements rolled so as to form sharp cleaning ed es and surfaces, said surfaces being deformed into different designs to form additional cleaning elements thereon.

3. A cleaning device comprising fine flexible linear elements of rolled metal having sharp cleaning edges and surfaces, said surfaces having projections thereon formin additional cleaning elements.

4. A cleaning'device comprising fine fleJ K- ible ribbons of rolled metal having sharp cleaning edges and surfaces, said surfaces being deformed to provide additional cleaning elements thereon.

" 5. A cleanin device comprising fine flexible ribbons 0% rolled metal having sharp cleaning edges and surfaces, said surfaces beingdeformed into designs to form additional cleaning elements thereon.

- 6. A cleaning.devicercomprising fine flexible ribbons of rolled metal having sharp cleaning edges and surfaces, said surfaces having pro]ections thereon forming additional cleaning elements.

-7. A cleanin devicecomprising fine flexrolled metalhaving sharp cleaning edges and surfaces, said surfaces being embossedto form additional cleaning elements thereon. Signed at New York, in the county of New York, and State of New York, this 7th day of October, A. D. 1925. v

' a GRoSB FIELD. 

